An expectant mother and two immigrant advocacy organizations launched a late-night lawsuit against the Trump administration in Massachusetts federal court, aiming to block an executive order that ends birthright citizenship in the U.S.
The lawsuit, filed by an unnamed woman expecting her child in March, alongside La Colaborativa and the Brazilian Worker Center, contends the 14th Amendment clearly guarantees citizenship to all individuals born on U.S. soil. The plaintiffs argue that the president lacks the authority to override this 157-year-old constitutional protection.
“This unprecedented attempt to strip citizenship from millions of Americans with the stroke of a pen is flagrantly illegal,” the complaint states. “It is settled beyond all doubt that the president simply does not have the power to unilaterally revoke a person’s birthright citizenship.”
The case mirrors another legal challenge led by the American Civil Liberties Union in New Hampshire federal court, which also disputes the executive order’s constitutionality.
Executive Order Sparks Constitutional Battle
The Massachusetts complaint criticizes the executive order, titled “Protecting the Meaning and Value of American Citizenship,” as an overreach of presidential power. The directive, signed just hours after Donald Trump returned to office, prohibits automatic citizenship for children born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrant parents.
